| Selfless public
service family tradition Member saves lives in his spare time as volunteer EMT |
| For Mike
Hellmann, the old adage "it runs in the family"
is, quite literally, true. A steward in PEF Division 200 at the state Labor Department where he is a labor services representative, Hellman has been a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician on Long Island since 1964. That would be quite an accomplishment in itself, but the story doesn't end there. His wife, Judy, and his son, Jason, also are volunteer firefighters and emergency medical technicians for the Coram Fire Department in Suffolk County. Hellmann said he was surprised and amused to learn the family's history of volunteer service did not start with him. "My grandmother told me that my grandfather was a volunteer firefighter in Germany. I thought that was hilarious. It seemed like we had just skipped a generation." Hellmann has been coming to the aid of people in distress for so long that he scarcely notices how much time it takes away from relaxing at home or unwinding from the workplace. "I don't really know what keeps me going," he said. "Force of habit, I guess. It's like being a fire dog. The bell goes off and you go." Hellmann takes considerable satisfaction and pride from his emergency-rescue work. For example, Hellmann likes to remember the TWA Flight 800 salvage operation in 1996 off the southern coast of Long Island when he and Judy worked alongside federal employees from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the FBI and the Coast Guard. "My wife and I worked in the recovery area," Hellmann recalled. "We were there in case any of the divers got 'the bends' (a very painful and potentially fatal condition resulting from returning too quickly to the surface) and we had to take them to a decompression chamber." Hellmann has received numerous awards for his life-saving efforts, such as in 1988, when he was cited by Suffolk County and Brookhaven for saving the life of a burn victim. In 1993, all three Hellmanns were cited by the Coram Fire Department Engine Co. 3 for resuscitating a 3-year-old girl who was a pool-drowning victim. And in 1998, he was cited by the Coram Fire Department and received the Allstate Good Hands Life Saving Award for resuscitating an 81-year-old man who was in cardiac arrest. "Mike should be commended on his dedication and service to the community," said PEF Vice President Jean DeBow. "With such a shortage of volunteer firefighters and emergency medical technicians in New York, we wish more people would volunteer for their rescue squads and fire departments." |